Seventeen - Gray Fullbuster

Gray was pissed off enough as it was. They had burst into the warehouse Phantom Lord was hanging out in. It was amazing how well a bunch of high school age, foster kids could hold up against a street gang. A lot of people had gotten hurt though, and all they'd managed to do was find out that the one that attacked their friends wasn't even there. Then, one of the Phantom Lord members got a phone call.

"Yeah, what?" he demanded into the receiver end of his cell phone. "We're kinda busy at the moment!" The guy's expression shifted from annoyed to pleased as the person on the other end spoke. "You have the Heartfilia girl? Good! Get her back to main base. Don't come here. The Fairy Tail kids showed up and- erk!"

"What did you just say?" the guy was cut short as Natsu grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. Natsu narrowed his eyes as the guy struggled to breathe. "Are you talking about Lucy?"

"I don't know, man," the guy choked as Natsu dragged him outside. "Let me go!"

"Where is Lucy?!" Natsu shouted, throwing the guy to the ground. The others gathered around to stop him from crawling away. Natsu kicked him in the side and he curled into the fetal position. Everyone was glaring at him, but Natsu looked especially furious. "Why do you bastards have her?!"

"Gajeel and Juvia are taking her to the main base!" the guy exclaimed, cowering. "I swear, that's all I know!"

Natsu kicked him again. "Where is your base?" he demanded as the guy coughed up a bit of blood.

"You won't make it in time anyway," the guy said. "I don't know what they're planning to do with her, but she probably doesn't have long."

Natsu pulled a lighter out of his pocket and flipped it open. A flame sparked to life and he held it near the hem of the Phantom Lord member's shirt. The guy's eyes widened in fear and a few Fairy Tail kids averted their eyes. Gray wondered how Natsu had gotten that lighter back after it had been confiscated, but he didn't try to stop him. They had to do something to find Lucy.

"Where the hell is she?" Natsu growled.

"F-fine! I'll fuckin' tell you!" the guy yelped. "Base is under Metallicana's! The bar on the edge of town!"

Natsu put the lighter away and left the guy lying in the street. "Let's go!" he said to the rest of the foster kids.

"Where is Headmaster Makarov?" Erza asked.

"He's been injured!" Cana exclaimed. "We've got to take him home."

"Let's go there first then," Erza reasoned. "We need his help."

"Screw that!" Natsu said, running off. "You guys take him home. I'm going to get Lucy!"

Erza sighed, but let him go. "Gray," she said, turning to him. "Go make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble. And that the whole city doesn't go down in flames." She helped Cana prop up a nearly unconscious Makarov as Gray nodded and ran after Natsu.

-.-.-

After several minutes of running, Gray realized that Natsu had gotten too much of a head start. Besides that, Gray had no clue where Metallicana's was or where he was going. He hoped Natsu found the place alright. He also hoped it didn't end up on fire. Lucy could get hurt.

Gray slowed to a walk and began looking at his surroundings. He only had a vague idea of where he was and it had started to rain again. His cell phone had vanished with the last pair of pants he had lost, so he couldn't figure out directions. He sighed and turned down an alley, stopping short when he saw someone standing at the other end. She had blue hair and a large, pink umbrella.

"Who are you?" Gray asked as she stared him down and didn't get out of his way. "What is a girl doing in a back alley in this kind of weather?"

"It is Juvia," she said. "Juvia has been sent to stop Fairy kids from following Gajeel."

"You're from Phantom?" Gray asked, recalling hearing their names from the guy Natsu had nearly lit on fire. "That means we have a problem. Just so you know, I don't care if you're a girl. You hurt my friends and I won't go easy on you."

Juvia stared at him for a moment. Then she blushed and promptly spun on her heel.

"Y-yes! Juvia has lost this battle," she squeaked. "Farewell!"

"What?" Gray exclaimed. "Don't just walk away from me! Where is your base?" He reached out to grab her, but she turned and tackled him to the ground before he got the chance. "Ahh! Ow! Get off!"

He felt something sharp in his side and wondered what he had fallen on. Juvia's face went through a range of emotions that Gray couldn't hope to follow. He shoved her off of himself and she fell to the ground. He stood up and pulled his shirt off. He examined his wound.

A pointed rock had stuck into him when he fell. He was bleeding, but he would be fine. He glared at Juvia again, who seemed to be blushing. This was the weirdest fight he had ever been in. She got to her feet and sighed, dusting herself off.

"Right, we are enemies," she mumbled. She turned her gaze back to him and attacked him again. "Farewell, sweet flower of love!"

"What the hell is she saying?" he wondered, doing his best to avoid her attacks and fight back.

"It is impossible for you to defeat Juvia," she said after a few moments. She was a good fighter. Gray was hardly landing a single hit, her movements were so fluid. "But you don't have to lose. Just allow Phantom Lord to have Lucy and the fighting stops."

"Don't be stupid," he scoffed. "That's never going to happen. Lucy is our nakama now. I won't leave her with you, even if I die."

Juvia dropped her umbrella as a horrified look came over her face. She started to cry and Gray was becoming increasingly confused. Suddenly, she snapped. Her expression shifted to one of pure rage. Overtaken by emotion, she shouted at the sky.

"This cannot be forgiven!" she screamed. "Juvia will never forgive Lucy!"

"What the hell?" Gray muttered, taking a step back. "Why's she mad at Lucy?"

Juvia started attacking again, fighting with renewed vigor. Gray was having trouble keeping up. He sustained more injuries while she remained largely unscathed. Fed up with that, Gray waited for an opening and leapt at her, fighting more viciously.

"I don't need love!" she exclaimed.

Gray still wasn't sure what she was talking about, but he didn't care anymore.

"I won't lose!" he shouted. "Not to someone like Phantom Lord!"

With that, he delivered a blow to her stomach that sent her flying backwards. She hit a grouping of trashcans and collapsed. He waited for her to get back up, but she didn't. Cautiously, he approached her. She was unconscious.

"Great," he sighed, checking her pulse to make sure she hadn't died. "I suppose I can't just leave her here."

-.-.-

It was at least ten minutes before he found a hospital. The rain had cleared up and Juvia had begun to stir. Gray was carrying her on his back, so he turned his head to look at her. Her eyes blinked open and he smirked at her confused expression. She looked around and at the sky, which was blue since the clouds had vanished.

"The sky..." Juvia breathed. "It's beautiful."

She's insane, Gray thought. "You don't want to go at it again, do you?" he asked, not really up for continuing to fight her. At his words, she flushed bright red and passed out again. What is a girl like this doing with Phantom? he wondered, passing through the emergency room doors.